Boom Chicago is Sharp and Interactive
By Henk van Gelder
NRC HANDELSBLAD
September 28, 2006
Six people sit in a row on a tram or a bus -- all wearing iPods. Even when in a crowd, we can be lonely these days. One by one, the audience hears the different soundtracks. Boom Chicago's new show is surprising from the get go.
Me, MySpace and iPod, made and performed by the American comedy troupe that moved into Amsterdam's Leidseplein Theater eight years ago, is dedicated mostly to new media. The show contains strong sketches -- one about Lonelygirl15, and one about a girl chatting online that really is a fifteen year old girl (and not the expected 47 year old pedophile) -- and high tech tricks, like using live internet on big screens.
This allows them to create a new entry on Wikipedia, and to type in a question from the audience on Yahoo Answers for someone out in the world to respond to later in the show. The comedians immediately start improvising and are able to incorporate this answer into a sharp scene much smarter and quicker than the awkward improvisers from BNN's De Lama's.
The biggest stunts are when the cast brings an audience member's blog to life, and the finale which demonstrates how easy it is to commit identity fraud with another audience member's credit card data. Boom Chicago's first goal is to make you laugh, but the implicit real-life warning is clearly there. The most exciting thing, however, is that by using this new media, Boom Chicago has actually created a whole new genre of theater; call it "digital comedy." That is the most fascinating development of all.
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